Drat! Paul has inadvertently (and all my fault) put up a slightly earlier version of our suggested modifications. For the record, here is the intended version, not having taken account of Jonathan’s earlier post today.
Revisions/clarifications:
Flint/lithic scatter - "A spatially discrete, though sometimes extensive, scatter of flint/lithic artefacts, can be recovered from the present-day surface or from sub-surface deposits;
Buried landsurface - "A former ground surface or soil buried beneath an earthwork or other sequence of deposits, including palaeosols and turf lines";
Stratified find - "Artefact or artefacts found in stratified below ground deposits, as distinct from surface collection or chance find";
New terms:
Quaternary deposit - "Natural deposit attributable to the Quaternary period on basis of landscape position, form, sedimentary nature or ecofacts".
Palaeo-environmental findspot - "A Quaternary site where the deposits contain faunal or other palaeo-environmental remains".
Deposit sequence - [cf HERForum 19-Jun-2014: 10:05, email of Rob Edwards] - "A sequence of stratified deposits providing palaeo-environmental and litho-stratigraphic information that contributes to the reconstruction of past landscapes, climate and environments"
Francis Wenban-Smith (Dr)
Department of Archaeology (CAHOR - Centre for Applied Human Origins Research)
University of Southampton (Avenue Campus)
Southampton, Hants
SO17 1BF
02380-596 864 (direct)
07771-623 096 (mobile)
From: The Forum for Information Standards in Heritage (FISH) [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Paul Cuming
Sent: 24 October 2014 12:56
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [FISH] Session 2, Q3 - deposits & palaeo-environmental evidence
Following from Q1 of this session, it has been proposed that "Monument_Type" and "Find_Type" fields can be used to refine information on the Monument record, and to identify whether it is a natural deposit with Quaternary palaeo-environmental remains from the Hoxnian interglacial, or a Roman villa. Many of the existing definitions are already fairly adequate for this, although some minor revisions and clarifications are proposed to the scope notes for existing terms, as well a couple of new terms. The most immediately important of these are listed below, but we have also highlighted some problems in the attached review of deposit terms spread throughout existing thesauri.
Revisions/clarifications
Flint/lithic scatter - "A spatially discrete, though sometimes extensive, scatter of flint/lithic artefacts, can be recovered from the present-day surface, eg. by fieldwalking or from sub-surface deposits, rather than from a particular archaeological context";
Buried landsurface - "A former ground surface or soil buried beneath an earthwork or other sequence of deposits" (includes palaeosoils, turf lines);
Stratified find - "A Monument whose presence is inferred from Artefact or artefacts found in stratified below ground deposits, as distinct from surface collection or chance find";
New terms
2d - Quaternary deposit - "Natural deposit attributable to the Quaternary period on basis of landscape position, form, sedimentary nature or ecofacts".
2e - Palaeo-environmental findspot - "A Quaternary site where the deposits contain faunal or other palaeo-environmental remains".
2f - Deposit sequence - [cf HERForum 19-Jun-2014: 10:05, email of Rob Edwards] - "A sequence of deposits providing palaeo-environmental information which contributes to the reconstruction of past environments and climates"
Paul
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Paul Cuming | Historic Environment Record Manager | Environment, Planning and Enforcement | Heritage Conservation Group
From: The Forum for Information Standards in Heritage (FISH) [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Campbell, Gill
Sent: 24 October 2014 12:29
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [FISH] Session 2, Q3 - deposits & palaeo-environmental evidence
Thank you Paul
With reference to making suitable terms available in the thesauri, both the two FISH Thesauri (Monument Type and Evidence) we are focussing on this morning contain terms that can be used to record information about Palaeolithic and Mesolithic archaeology (heritage assets).
In terms of recording artefact scatters or groups of artefacts, FLINT SCATTER, LITHIC SCATTER and ARTEFACT SCATTER are terms within the Monument Type thesaurus.
ARTEFACT SCATTER: spatially discrete scatter of mixed artefactual material found on the ground, seabed or riverbed which may have been deposited over time rather than resulting from one particular event. Index particular types where appropriate.
And as narrow terms under this with very similar scope notes:
FLINT SCATTER: A spatially discrete, though sometimes extensive, scatter of flint artefacts recovered from the surface, e.g. by fieldwalking, rather than from a particular archaeological context.
LITHIC SCATTER: A spatially discrete, though sometimes extensive, scatter of lithic artefacts recovered from the surface, e.g. by fieldwalking, rather than from a particular archaeological context. Use particular types where appropriate.
As has already been suggested it is very straight forward to amend the scope notes (definitions) for these terms to include finds found within archaeological contexts.
Then in the Evidence thesaurus we have:
FIND : Monument whose existence is indicated by the discovery of isolated artefacts or an artefact scatter. Eg a scatter of roofing tiles indicating the presence of a building. Use narrow terms where circumstances of discovery are known.
And narrow terms under this
ARTEFACT SCATTER: A distribution of artefacts indicating the presence of former presence of a monument
STRATIFED FIND: A Monument whose presence is inferred from artefacts found in stratified below ground deposits, as distinct from surface collection or chance find.
UNSTRATIFIED FIND: A Monument whose presence is inferred by discovery of unstratified artefacts, for instance in plough soil
Here as I understand it the presence of monument (site, including a site without structure) is recognised or evidenced by the term used e.g. artefact scatter or documentary evidence. If we the replace the word monument with the phrase’ monument type/ site’ the scope notes for these terms becomes less contentious and we can use the Monument Typethesaurus to define what type of monument is inferred. At a broad level this might just mean Monument type: SITE or something more specific
In the Monument Type Thesaurus SITE is defined as follows:
SITE: Unclassifiable site with minimal information. Specify site type wherever possible
And as a narrow term under this:
OCCUPATION SITE: A site showing some signs of occupation but evidence is insufficient to imply permanent settlement.
And we also have ARCHAEOLOGICAL FEATURE and NATURAL FEATURE defined as follows:
ARCHAEOLOGICAL FEATURE: Use only for features assumed to be archaeological but which cannot be identified more precisely without further investigation. Use a more specific term where known.
Narrow terms under this include: OCCUPATION LAYER, BURIED LAND SURFACE and, PIT CLUSTER.
NATURE FEATURE: Use only for natural features mistakenly assumed to be archaeological or natural features with archaeological significance.
Narrow terms under this include: CAVE, SUBMERGED LANDSCAPE and ROCK SHELTER.
Ways Forward
It would be possible to tidy up a where some of these terms sit in the Monument Type thesaurus hierarchy and add new terms under a revised definition of NATURAL FEATURE. These terms could include some terms already in the thesaurus which are currently unassigned (not attached to a class) such as PALAEOCHANNEL. Thus we could potentially include terms such as Pingo, Fissure, Raised Beach etc. widening the types of ‘monument type’ that can be recorded.
There is also the option of adding new terms to the Evidence thesaurus. I would suggest that one way of enabling the recording of monuments in the widest sense would be to include the term Palaeoenvironmental Evidence in the Evidence thesaurus with some narrow terms underneath this term defining what type of environment is indicated e.g. glacial, interglacial etc. though participants might feel that this is a step too far. The palaeoenvironmental evidence described result from the interpretation of the object types studied (artefacts and ecofacts-including deposits –see Archaeological Objects thesaurus) and the investigative techniques used (see Archaeological Sciences thesaurus).
Please note that the one thing that does cause problems in terms of controlled vocabularies is changing the name of a term currently in use. However, it is possible to make a term redundant, or non-preferred, and point users to the new preferred term.
Gill Campbell
Head of Environmental Studies
English Heritage
T: 02392 856780
English Heritage Science Network Convenor
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